The rapper Timal was condemned Thursday evening by the court of Meaux to pay 6,000 euros for “acts of cruelty to a domestic animal“, two days after broadcasting a video in which he hit his dog. Ruben Louis (his real name), 25, was sentenced late in the evening to a sentence of 120 day fines at 50 euros, i. total of 6,000 euros. Failure to pay this amount would result in 120 days in prison. He is also sentenced to a ban on keeping animals for five years.
This sentence was previously proposed by the public prosecutor and accepted by the rapper in the context of an appearance on prior recognition of guilt (CRPC), a sort of “to plead guilty“à la française which allows certain offenses to be judged more quickly, provided that the defendant acknowledges the facts.
The artist, who has just released a single with rap heavyweight Booba, was arrested and placed in police custody on Wednesday in Champs-sur-Marne (Seine-et-Marne) in the Paris suburbs, where he resides. The day before, he had posted a video on the social network Snapchat in which he filmed himself kicking one of his two dogs in the head. “asshole go“, could we read in legend. The mastiffs were seized and entrusted to an association of animal protection.
This case echoes that of Kurt Zouma, a French international defender sentenced in June by British justice to 180 hours of community service for having mistreated his cat, after the broadcast of a video that went viral.
The rapper #Timal films himself kicking his dog who has just urinated on the ground and publishes the footage on #Snapchat. The foundation #30millionfriends lodged a complaint and asked for the safety of the animal. https://t.co/bweN3rirz4
— 30 Million Friends Foundation (@30millionsdamis) August 31, 2022
“It is a sentence adapted to the situation since Timal acknowledged the facts and above all expressed extremely sincere regrets. The video is not at all representative of the way he always treated his animals“, told AFP Me Elise Arfi, his lawyer.The gap is widening between an ultra-sensitized public opinion which no longer accepts attacks on animals and the penalties imposed which are far below the maximum penalties“, and “absolutely no deterrent“, reacted for her part Me Caroline Lanty, lawyer for the Foundation 30 million friends, who had filed a complaint.
Rapper Timal gained some notoriety in February with the single Filtered, alongside rapper Gazo. The song now has more than 52 million plays on Spotify, the world’s leading music platform, and almost as many views on YouTube. At the end of August he released, with rap heavyweight Booba, a new single entitled Chameleon. “You screwed up on this one but you’ll prove to them that you’re not bad“, Booba tweeted Thursday, September 1, addressing the young rapper, calling his gesture “unacceptable but not unforgivable“.
.@timaltropchaud pic.twitter.com/qnEuTB6tKU
—Booba (@booba) September 1, 2022